Babylon ARTS has worked in partnership with Ely Museum, the National Trust’s Wicken Fen Nature Reserve, the Highfield Littleport Academy, RNIB, CamSight and Vision Norfolk for the past 18 months to deliver an exciting and innovative project ‘Inspired by Nature’, made possible with the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been privileged to deliver a programme that developed creative approaches which facilitated connection and engagement with Nature for people with low vision, children, young people and the public. The programme was designed to improve access to arts and heritage to a wider range of people and enable Babylon Gallery, Wicken Fen and Ely Museum to be welcoming, inclusive and accessible sites. We are delighted to have completed this project with some truly transformational outcomes and increased awareness.
Over the duration of this 18-month programme Babylon ARTS will:
- Established a creative group comprising people with low vision and blindness in partnership with CamSight and Vision Norfolk. The ‘Nature Group’ explored the theme of nature through creative activities with Lead artist, Tom Adams and learned about the history and significance of the landscape through visits to Ely Museum and Wicken Fen, co-producing a sound artwork, which featured prominently in the ‘Sensing Nature’ exhibition. The ‘Nature Group’ Case Study is available here.
- Designed and produced the ‘Sensing Nature’ challenge: a call out issued to our local communities and audiences, as well as the wider public to spend some time in nature and send us their creative responses. Selected work was displayed in the ‘Sensing Nature’ exhibition (February-March 24), curated by Babylon’s Young Associates’ group, Basecoat Collective.
- Artist, Kaitlin Ferguson drew up 3 graphic images to be produced as raised drawings from exhibits in the ‘Sensing Nature’ exhibition, which were subsequently printed on a specialised printer at Cambridge Museums.
- Two members of Basecoat Collective produced audio descriptions of 7 artworks included in the ‘Sensing Nature’ exhibition and a further 10 audio descriptions and 6 raised drawings for the Babylon ‘Summer Open’, a first for Babylon. And these two also achieved the first ever digital badges for Audio Describing & Recording for the Visually Impaired via Badge Nation.
- Artist, Kaitlin Ferguson drew up another 18 images to be produced as raised drawings, 9 for The Wicken Fen featuring a map, wildlife and buildings on site, 3 for Ely Museum featuring historic images of Fenland workers with traditional tools and 6 drawn up from contemporary exhibits in the ‘Summer Open’
- Co-delivered public handling sessions at Ely Museum, exploring objects from the collection and responding to them creatively.
- Delivered a SEND school project devised by Lead Artist, Kaitlin Ferguson and Assistant Artists, Amy Wormald and Lyn Pryor and co-created with all the pupils, teachers and the wider school community.
- Produced 2 sets of 3D printed fossils designed and manufactured by Kaitlin Ferguson for handling for the Highfield Littleport Academy and the National Trust’s Wicken Fen Nature Reserve
- Secured some modest accessibility improvements to the Babylon Gallery, including lighting and doorbell, to be installed. A range of initiatives were also implemented in the labelling, print, signage and brochures within the exhibition space to ensure improved access by those with blindness or low vision. A Workplace Poster was also designed that serves as a prompt to staff as to how to engage with colleagues and customers with low vision.
- Babylon Arts has achieved the RNIB’s ‘Visibly Better Employer’ status which signals it as an organisation that both welcomes and supports those who may be blind or with low vision to the workplace as employees, with a commitment to making the necessary changes to facilitate access.
Sensing Nature Exhibition
Sensing Nature celebrates work made with local communities who have creatively engaged with the heritage, significance and stories of the Fenland landscape. We invite you to consider the personal connections you have with nature, as you explore this digital exhibition.
Artworks include a sound installation co-produced by Composer Tom Adams and participants from Camsight and Vision Norfolk, 3D printed fossils developed through Artist Kaitlin Ferguson's engagement with teachers and pupils from Highfields Littleport Academy, and an array of drawings, sculptures and sound pieces submitted via an open call.
Sensing Nature has been curated by Basecoat Collective - a group of 15-25 year olds who initiate creative projects in collaboration with Babylon Gallery, and has been delivered in collaboration with Ely Museum, RNIB and Wicken Fen and been made possible with the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Explore our virtual exhibition below:
The Lantern Men
By Tom Adams
Narrated by Bill Walston
Contributors: Abi, Alex, Bridie, Bill, Fiona, Githa, Ian, Nicky, Paul, Penny, Savi, Sophie and Tina.
Inspired by the folklore of the Lantern Men – a mysterious white light that hovers over the fenland at night, luring wanderers into the reed beds - this sound piece is the culmination of a six-month collaboration between Composer Tom Adams and participants from the Cam Sight and Vision Norfolk community. Together they have explored Wicken Fen by boat and on foot, handled museum objects at Ely Museum, and developed songs, sonic meditations and a whistling choir in response to their experiences.
The Lantern Men intersects the tale of the untimely death of wherryman Joseph Bexfield with sonic sounds, personal reflections and field recordings made during the project, to be listened to in our contemplative Bird hide.
Find the transcript for The Lantern Men here.
Sensing Nature Open Call
In a Sensing Nature Open Call, the public were invited to try a selection of multi-sensory challenges (Listen, Touch, Look), submitting artworks that capture what nature means to people, with personal stories and connections to the Fenland landscape. A selection of pieces were included in the exhibition at Babylon Gallery, but with such a brilliant selection of work, we decided to include all of the work submitted in a virtual gallery.
Listen
For the first challenge, we asked people to share an audio recording of their personal stories or experiences with nature, or recording the sounds of the natural world around them. We compiled these to form the sound piece here:
Sensing Nature - Audio Guide
If you would like to explore the exhibition using our audio guide, you can listen to it here:
Find the transcript to the Sensing Nature Audio Guide here.
